Bamboo/Osage Project Follow Along **Complete W/Pics**

[Art B]

She turned out real nice Chris! Lots of work you can do on those tips yet. Round the very tip, remove the string groove's rear shoulder, and if you have the groove tear dropped shaped, you can remove and round the belly side. No, overlays aren't required unless you grooved the back of the boo. Which doesn't appear to be the case......Art

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Originally posted by Art B:
She turned out real nice Chris! Lots of work you can do on those tips yet. Round the very tip, remove the string groove's rear shoulder, and if you have the groove tear dropped shaped, you can remove and round the belly side. No, overlays aren't required unless you grooved the back of the boo. Which doesn't appear to be the case......Art

Thanks Art. No I knew better than to cut a groove over the back of the boo and I only cut the nock grooves deep enough to keep the string from popping off.
I may do something like you did in those pics, I kinda like that.

[bjansen]

Nice job!

[Roy from Pa]

I guess it looks ok:)

[CaptainJ]

Very nice Chris!

Thanks for the build along too. I know you're not feeling well but you got that bow done and put in the extra effort to help educate the community along with it. Thanks again!


CJ

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks guys, I enjoyed sharing with y'all.

Anybody got some advice on thinning the tips?

They are a bit thick and I just want to make sure it won't effect my tiller or draw wt. before I thin them down. I think the tip mass effects the speed of the limb tips as well as looking kinda clunky.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Originally posted by Roy from Pa:
I guess it looks ok:)

Roybert, don't make me come all the way up there to PA just to toss you into your own pond.  

[Roy from Pa]

I hain't skeered:)

[Art B]

Take a ruler Chris and get an exact measurement on the bow's positive tiller, if any.

Now, remove the string and start reducing one tip. Put your string back on and and check to see if the tiller has moved. If not, then remove the string and reduce the other side the same amount.

Keep repeating that until you get the desired effect.

Important thing here is to maintain the tiller you started with. Good luck........Art

[Shakes.602]

Awsome Design, and Outstanding Craftsmanship!! All adds up to One Beauty of a Bow!!      

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks Shakes, this was a first with bamboo for me so it's a "learn as I go" project. Yes, it's got some snap to it. I'm completely satisfied and it's a whole lot quicker than Osage by itself, and I don't know if it's the bamboo backing or the design, but this bow seems super quiet to me. I put some beaver silencers on it, but honestly I think it would be plenty quiet without them?

Art- I reduced the tips a little, just enough to even them out with the rest of the limb so it blends in and it didn't change anything about the profile or the tiller. I think that last 4" or so doesn't flex much anyway and it looks a whole lot nicer now. One tip was pretty fat, and the other one didn't need hardly anything taken off at all.
Thanks for the advice.

The next pics will be when it's completely finished with stain, tru oil finish, and ready to stroll. I'm going to experiement with different stains on some scrap pieces of boo that I cut off the ends to see what screams at me the loudest.

[Lee Slikkers]

Looking forward to the "unveiling!"
 

 

[okie64]

Looks good Chris. Dont take this the wrong way but it looks like almost all the bending is taking place in the inner 1/3 of the limb.  Nothing wrong with that but it may cause it to take more set than normal as you shoot it more and more. If it were me I would tiller it down a few more pounds and get the midlimbs working a little more JMHO. But its not mine so if you're happy with it thats what matters.    Osage is good stuff so I'm sure its a great shooter.

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Hey Lee, sorry I forgot to post the specs like you asked for.
60" NTN 50# @28"
1 1/4" @ Fades, Straight Taper to 1/2" at the tips
2" of Deflex and 2" of Reflex, but don't quote me on that cause I'm not 100% sure I'm measuring it right. That's the unstrung profile.

[StoneAK]

Chris,
    I think it looks good man!      I have a bamboo backed Ipe on the caul right now I can't wait until tom. and see what that baby is looking like when I get it off there. great job
Lester

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks guys, you all remember that country song by the group Alabama...........
"She's close enough to perfect for me" ??

That song keeps running through my head everytime I go back and look at my last tillering board pics.      

[Lee Slikkers]

Originally posted by SEMO_HUNTER:
Hey Lee, sorry I forgot to post the specs like you asked for.
60" NTN 50# @28"
1 1/4" @ Fades, Straight Taper to 1/2" at the tips
2" of Deflex and 2" of Reflex, but don't quote me on that cause I'm not 100% sure I'm measuring it right. That's the unstrung profile.

Thanks Chris...what did you end up with for handle width, length and thickness and how far out of the handles did you start the fades?

Last night I finished chasing a "the ring" on a Osage stave I had drying so I might use it as my first "guinea pig" on the Caul...I don't have any type of lam/backing for it though so I think I will try it with just the solid stave (like some of the ones David posted pics of...) and see how I do.  I hadn't really thought far enough ahead to realize that the tiller of these beasts was a completely animal but I think I am up for the challenge after reading this build-a-long and hearing some of the advice that was shared.

Thanks!

[NYArrow]

Nice job Semo!

[SEMO_HUNTER]

Thanks Dustin.

Lee- David said he gets awesome performance from his Osage selbows without any backing just by the shape he puts in them. So no backing is required.
The only thing I would warn against is that if the stave isn't dry enough yet and you put dry heat to it you will get some cracks, but that doesn't mean that they won't come out when tillered. I had some that weren't deep and they all came out while tillering, and the wood I used has been under my bench since last August.
Just go super slow when tillering and if you start to lose patience while trying to get that mid limb to move, just walk away from it and come back later. I almost went too far with mine at one point and thought I had screwed it up, it turned out ok but almost ended in disaster because I started losing my patience with it.

Total length was 61 1/2" then I came in 3/4" from each end to start my nock grooves. So I ended up with 60" from Nock to Nock groove. That's how long my Osage blank was so that's what I had to go with. Handle width is the same till it hits the fades 1 1/4" then begins the taper down to 1/2" at the tips, length is 9" and the fade starts 2" from the end of the handle so I end up with 7" of handle for my grip and the cut out for the arrow shelf. I actually sanded away about 1/2" of the end of the fade on the bottom section of the handle when I was thinning down the fade on the limb.
 I got big hands and I wanted an arrow shelf cut to center on this bow so I need a longer handle area than what I would normally do on a selfbow where I would be shooting off my top knuckle. I'll post a couple pics below.

I'll probably never make a longbow over 62" again now that I know I can get my draw length from a shorter bow. The first one I ever made was a full 68" long and it felt clumsy.

Handle pics

 

 

 

I went with simple natural tips on this one. I really didn't want to cover up any of the bamboo and I like the natural look so I decided not to do any tip overlays, I just didn't groove the back of the boo when I cut the grooves.

 

[Lee Slikkers]

Splendid!  I really like the shape of the tips...well done.  Thanks for the added stats/details on the layout, it will help me out quite a bit having those dimensions.

Thanks for the heads up on the Osage checking...I'll likely make up a steaming rig since my Osage is fairly green yet. I'll steam it up for an hour or so and slap her on the Caul and get the clamps working for me and then I'll let it sit and stabilize for a month or two.